Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts suffered a wrist injury on Friday night against the Houston Astros. It's unclear when he'll return to the field.
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Bogaerts Out vs. Blue Jays
Saturday, April 23
The Red Sox announced Bogaerts was not in the lineup for Saturday's game against Toronto.
The 23-year-old shortstop took a pitch off the wrist in Friday's clash with the Astros, and underwent precautionary X-rays, per Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald.
Bogaerts a Rising Star for Red Sox
This is a difficult blow for Boston because Bogaerts is an important piece of the current and future core for the Red Sox.
He is fresh off a 2015 campaign that saw him hit a career-best .320, which was second in the entire American League in batting average. He also brings some speed to the basepaths with 10 stolen bases in 2015 and was particularly durable for Boston with 156 games played.
Bogaerts won the 2015 Silver Slugger Award for American League shortstops for his efforts and was expected to once again be one of the best offensive middle infielders in the league this year. What’s more, he is an athletic presence in the middle of the diamond as a fielding shortstop and posted an impressive 4.6 WAR in 2015, per ESPN.com.
Thus far, he is hitting .277 with one home run and nine RBI this season.
Boston will likely rely on the versatile Brock Holt until Bogaerts can return. Holt can theoretically play almost every position across the infield and is another solid contact hitter who finished with a .280 batting average in 2015. At his best, he can get on base to set things up for the sluggers elsewhere in the lineup and keep the offense rolling during Bogaerts' absence.
Still, the Red Sox have playoff aspirations after missing out on the postseason in 2015 and need Bogaerts back in the lineup and anchoring the infield defense from shortstop if they hope to live up to their potential.
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